BLACK SABBATH's TONY IOMMI Presented With Old Fossil Named After Him

July 6, 2023

According to Westside BID, legendary BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi was presented with a life-sized sculpture of a prehistoric fossil named after him.

Palaeontologist and heavy metal fan Mats Eriksson had previously discovered the 469-million-year-old fossil of an eel-like marine vertebrate in Russia and named the new species Drepanoistodus Iommii after his rock hero.

Mats was invited to Birmingham, England from his home in Sweden to present Tony with a life-sized model of the fossil, specially made for the occasion by sculptor Esben Horn. Tony had previously enjoyed a Facetime chat with Mats on the BLACK SABBATH bench in Birmingham at the end of 2021.

Mats and Esben were invited to the Velvet Music Rooms in Broad Street to present Tony with the sculpture of the fossil.

Tony said of the meeting: "It was great to meet Mats and Esben today and receive an amazing replica of the Iommi fossil. And thanks to Mike Olley and Steve at Velvet Music Rooms."

Iommi had previously said: "It was a real shock to hear that a fossil's been named after me. I've had a bit of abuse from my friends about it who've enjoyed calling me an old fossil, but I think it's great, a real honor.

"This has to be the weirdest thing that's ever been named after me but I'm really proud of it and I wanted to thank Mats and his team in person for being such brilliant fans."

Mats, who has been a fan of BLACK SABBATH since he was a boy, said he was thrilled by his team’s discovery of the fossil, and it was great to combine his love affairs of nature and music.

Mike Olley, general manager of Westside BID, said: "I’m delighted we were able to set up a meeting between Tony, Mats and Esben, and present Tony with the model of the fossil named after him.

"Tony is one of Birmingham's greatest rock heroes and this is a fantastic gesture by Mats, and Esben, to honor him in this way. He is now officially an old fossil!"

Rock met rock as legendary Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi was presented with a giant sculpture of a prehistoric...

Posted by Westside BID on Thursday, July 6, 2023

Find more on Black sabbath
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).